body positivity at carleton college and beyond

Quick Hit: 25 Things I Do To Make My Body Dysphoria Feel Smaller and Quieter

Sharing this for anyone who might need it today. Or for anyone who might not need it today but wants to bookmark it for when they need it in the future. Kate talks about her experience with Body Dysphoria and the things she does for self care.

Kate’s description of her Body Dysphoria, which I find really powerful:

If you’ve never had body dysphoria, let me explain a little bit about how it makes me feel and why I have it. Body dysphoria feels like the worst-fitting outfit you’ve ever put together, but you can never take it off. Or sometimes it’s more like a pebble in your shoe, or a belt that digs into your side, or a tiny thing that is just noticeable enough to throw your day off. Some days I wake up and it’s just there. Some days it’s because I tried to fit my not-so-masculine body into my masculine clothes, and the parts that didn’t fit made me want to scream and disappear and puke up all my guts at the same time. It can grow into a scary place where I don’t know if my body belongs to me, and I feel like I’ve been detached from something essential and am about to wash out to sea. Maybe a picture makes me hate and fear the body I don’t have because it’s not the body I wish I had. Maybe I think that the someone I desire won’t desire me because I don’t look like all the handsome cisgendered men they probably grew up loving. Maybe it doesn’t make sense why I feel these things, but I still feel them and they still hurt, darn it.

She then describes 25 things that are part of her own self care regime. Maybe those things are things that already work for you! Maybe they are things that could work for you! Maybe they won’t work for you, and instead can inspire you to come up with your own list! Self-care is vital. Always. And radical. Take care of yourselves, happy bodies.